Why overhead arm curls make your triceps bigger
Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People did triceps exercises with one arm overhead and the other at their side for 12 weeks. Even though they lifted less weight with the overhead arm, that arm’s triceps grew more.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
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Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
People did triceps exercises with one arm overhead and the other at their side for 12 weeks. Even though they lifted less weight with the overhead arm, that arm’s triceps grew more.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 545 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Maeo S, Wu Y, Huang M, Sakurai H, Kusagawa Y, Sugiyama T, Kanehisa H, Isaka T
Related Content
Claims (4)
When you do triceps exercises with your arm stretched overhead instead of at your side, your triceps muscle grows more—even if you’re lifting lighter weights.
Even the smaller parts of your triceps grow more when you do the exercise with your arm overhead instead of at your side.
Overall, your whole triceps muscle grows more when you do the exercise with your arm overhead—even if you’re not lifting as heavy.
Overhead triceps extensions, which place the long head of the triceps at a longer muscle length, produce greater hypertrophy in the long head compared to pushdowns that maintain a shorter length.